Blackberries!

Last week a group of us got together and went to a precious little farm to pick blackberries. There is something about picking fruit from the vine (in this case bush.) The grocery store is nothing in comparison. While I'm glad to have the store just down the way, picking these beautiful berries is quite the experience.

Panic!

It was Saturday morning. We were preparing for a fun day at the pool as a family. Ben had brought me a cup of coffee as I was crawling out of bed, we had nothing scheduled and we were easing into a perfect day. Sy and Ben were outside playing as I got myself and the baby ready. Preparing to go to the pool is not the easy thing it once was. Gone are the days of putting your suit on, grabbing some pool necessities and heading out. No, now we must prepare snacks, towels for each of us, dry clothes, diapers made especially for the pool, pool toys, etc. Of course the most important of all these, is sunscreen. To avoid any exposure to the sun I decided to apply sunscreen on him ahead of time, at home. It's a good thing I did.

I had prepared myself for the pool, bags were packed, big boys were ready and all we lacked was getting Everett ready. As I carried him to the changing table with sunscreen in hand, I pondered, "Does sunscreen have an expiration date? I really don't like this kind. I'm going to get something thicker next time. Is SPF 45 enough for a little baby?" (I have many thoughts in 30 seconds) I lay E down, gave him a dry diaper and began the application process. This was his first time to wear sunscreen. I was a little sentimental about how big he is getting and how he is truly no longer a newborn. I started with his legs. They are SO FAT. They took a lot and I was careful to get it evenly and thoroughly applied. I covered his tummy and each arm. Then I covered his bald little head.

As I finished with his face, I glanced down and noticed on his inner thigh a bruise was developing! I could literally see it appearing before my eyes. I looked further and another one was coming on his tummy! He acted fine. I looked away and then back to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It was real! All of those previous thoughts were plaguing me. "I should have bought new sunscreen this year! What is happening? Have I handled him roughly and this lotion is making it appear? Is this an allergy? It must be horrible, something horrible!"

I ran to our back door, knocked briskly and signaled to Ben to come quickly. He responded and came running. "Look, look at his leg! I just put sunscreen on and his body is bruising! What do we do?" Ben was calm and cool, even more so than normal, probably since I was in hysterics. "Wash it off," he said. "It's waterproof!" I exclaimed. We ran to the kitchen sink, I turned on the water and was waiting for the temp to adjust. That's when I noticed it. EEYORE! Yes, I said Eeyore. You know, from Winnie the Pooh, the donkey. Cute little Eeyore is on Everett's diapers and now the ink from Eeyore is on my chubby baby. Eeyore is placed strategically on the left side just next to the left thigh. And he is BIG enough and GREY enough that a fat tummy hanging over can even touch him!

I know - it's funny. I was panicking like this was my first baby. But it looked real! I'm serious, if you ever need to make a bruise somewhere, all you need is sunscreen and Huggies Supreme Diapers - Size 3 - Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore on the front. :) Everett is just peachy. And just for laughs: we bought generic white diapers tonight at Wal-Mart. We didn't want to pay extra for all that ink. :) Ha!